Artist Ai Weiwei published the private cell phone numbers of several people on the Internet November 20, making them suffer from many prank calls. The editor-in-chief and an editor of Global Times were among the victims. This is a prominent case in which political dissent drives people to take immoral activities. Unethical political struggles are more active in China’s microblog sphere now and even many intellectuals and social celebrities are involved. This should not happen in a rational society.

If it was me, I would only call the police and then walk away, I would not help her up. Reason is as follows: 1, afraid of being accused, afraid that as soon as I saved her, her parents would come out accusing me of hurting her. 2, after saving her no one will claim her, and I have to foot the medical expenses, if her parents do not show up then it would be hard for me to leave/remove myself from the situation. 3, In the circumstance that we still do not know the specifics of the traffic accident, I’m afraid if I save her then the police will catch me as the perpetrator, I can only think of these, I hope other netizens can add more. If there are people who agree with me, please repost, and I also hope the editor/author will not delete this post, as I too am a good person/law-abiding citizen.

This view seems to be mainstream. What is the deal with the lack of compassion and empathy in China?

Saint Cyr, a family doctor at Beijing United Family Hospital said, “Beijing’s air pollution levels are right now astonishingly high and very hazardous to anyone: The AQI at the US Embassy is over 500 – the machine doesn’t go higher than that! Please, everyone take care!”

Though many Web users showed great concern over the deteriorating air quality in Beijing after reading his microblog, Chinese doctors, local residents and the Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau seem less worried.

“It was only slight pollution, which was not bad enough for people to wear masks,” said Du Shaozhong, deputy head of the bureau, who said Saint Cyr’s suggestions did “not reflect the real air conditions” in Beijing.

As always there are those who reveal their asininity (as they did throughout his career) with ascriptions like “salesman”, “showman” or the giveaway blunder “triumph of style over substance”. The use of that last phrase, “style over substance” has always been, as Oscar Wilde observed, a marvellous and instant indicator of a fool. For those who perceive a separation between the two have either not lived, thought, read or experienced the world with any degree of insight, imagination or connective intelligence.

Apparently, a rival group calling themselves the “Confucius Prize for World Peace” quietly emerged on September 21, the International Day of Peace — that’s one whole week before we found out the original organisers had been disbanded.